India News

Cruise Ship Drug Bust Case: Aryan Khan Remanded to Judicial Custody, Bail Hearing Tomorrow

Aryan Khan, son of actor Shah Rukh Khan and producer Gauri Khan, was remanded to judicial custody by a Mumbai court on Thursday in the case related to the seizure of drugs on board a cruise ship. Khan’s interim bail application will be heard by the court on Friday, Live Law reported.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

He will remain in NCB custody till Friday morning. “We are willing to stay one night in the custody of the officers,” Satish Maneshinde, Khan’s lawyer, said after the court set his client’s bail hearing for 11 am on Friday.

Khan was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on October 3 at around 2 pm after being interrogated over a rave party on a cruise ship. The agency raided the party on the night of October 2, based on a tip-off.

Along with Khan, two others – his friend Arbaaz Merchant and fashion designer Munmun Dhamecha – were also arrested in connection to the drug bust. Five others, namely Nupur Satija, Ishmeet Singh Chadha, Mohak Jaiswal, Gomit Chopra, and Vikrant Chhokar, were also arrested late on October 3.

All eight were presented in front of the court on Thursday. The judge ruled that all will be remanded to judicial custody and there is no further requirement of interrogation.

“The gist of the ASG’s argument is that they require the custody of the accused as they need to confront them with Achit Kumar. They also say they need to confront them with the other accused who have been arrested,” the judge said.

Recommended

“For police custody, every detail needs to be pointed out and the same is not reflected in the remand report. The investigation is silent on the arrest of the other accused. Police custody of the accused without cogent reason would amount to a violation of fundamental rights. I am of the view that no custodial interrogation is required as sufficient time was given,” the judge added.

In the last court hearing on Monday, the NCB had asked for custody of Khan till October 11, based on Khan’s WhatsApp chats that allegedly contained discussions with drug peddlers. It also sought custody of his friends, Merchant and Dhamecha, to investigate the links. The court had granted an extension on the trio’s custody till Thursday (October 7).